Man allegedly brings bombs to Conshohocken bar after being thrown out

CONSHOHOCKEN >> A borough man is facing numerous charges including unlawful possession or manufacture of weapons of mass destruction after he allegedly placed homemade explosives outside of a bar he had been thrown out of.

According to witness accounts in the arresting affidavit, 30-year-old Bernard John Krasnisky of the first block of Maple Street was already intoxicated when he entered Guppy’s Good Times at West Elm and Maple streets Thursday, May 11.

Around 10:30 p.m. police received a call that a man, later identified as Krasnisky, was “out of it” and kept trying to re-enter the establishment after being shown the door for over-intoxication.

As police were dispatched to the scene, the caller added that several customers reported seeing a man outside the bar with a rifle. Upon arrival, officers encountered Krasnisky, who was reportedly unsteady on his feet and slurring his speech.

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Witnesses told police they saw Krasnisky walking in the area with a rifle under his arm. One witness told officers he was alarmed when he saw Krasnisky “surreptitiously running across Maple Street” with the firearm before entering a navy blue Jeep Cherokee.

An officer discovered a rifle on the passenger’s seat of a black Jeep Cherokee parked in a lot across from the bar.

Police were called back to the area around 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 12, for a report of suspicious items found nearby.

A person living near the bar found tubes connected to fuses, powder and objects that looked like metal nuts.

Investigators described the items as appearing to be “a homemade bomb of some type.”

A “smoke bomb” type of firework resembling a grenade was also found at the scene.

The Montgomery County Bomb Unit was called in to secure the devices and a sheriff’s office investigator determined that the “homemade bombs” fit the description outlined in the weapons of mass destruction statute.

While securing the area, an officer spotted red fireworks in a yard near Krasnisky’s residence.

Investigators questioned Krasnisky, who reportedly claimed he modified the fireworks into explosive devices for self-defense, after he and his roommates agreed that he should not carry a gun.

According to the affidavit, Krasnisky went on to tell detectives he was mad at Guppy’s personnel for kicking him out and admitted to pointing a BB rifle at an employee.

The affidavit also states that Krasnisky said he went home to retrieve the explosives after he was expelled from the bar and intended to scare the bouncer with them, but tossed them into a neighbor’s yard because he knew police had been called.

In addition to charges of unlawful possession or manufacture of weapons of mass destruction — a grade 2 felony — Krasnisky has also been charged with causing or risking a catastrophe, an arson-related offense of possession with intent to use explosive or incendiary materials or devices, reckless endangerment, terroristic threats, public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

Krasnisky was arraigned in district court and failed to post $50,000 bail, according to court records. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for May 25.